Gary Mavers Movies

First time writer-director James Marquand's feature debut, the steel-tough crime thriller Dead Man's Cards, marks one of the venerable British actor Tom Bell's final onscreen roles prior to his death in 2006. The tale unfolds in the seedy Merseyside borough of Liverpool, where Tom Watts (James McMartin), a former pugilist forced to retire from an eye injury sustained in the ring, accepts a position as a bouncer at a dilapidated nightclub run by Billy the Cowboy (Bell). Tom's wife, upset by his new occupation and embarrassed by the discovery of her husband's sexual impotence, abandons him. Meanwhile, at work, Watts is immediately befriended and mentored by his co-bouncer, Paul (Paul Barber), who has become implicated with a shady element thanks to his ex-girlfriend's involvement with the cocaine pusher Romeo Brown (Andrew Simister), a slimy thug in hock to the gangster and cocaine boss Chongi (Mark Russell). The latter attempts to strongarm Paul and then Tom into joining his security firm; when both refuse, Chongi grows psychotically hostile and plans to rub out both men with the help of a trained assassin. He doesn't count, however, on Tom's decision to stop him in his tracks. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Set during WWI, the three-part British miniseries The Unknown Soldier focused on a shell-shocked British private known only as Angel. Rendered mute and amnesiac, Angel had no idea who he really was, a fact that aroused the maternal (and other) instincts of attractive, aristocratic nurse Sophia Carey (Juliet Aubrey). In her efforts to help Angel determine his true identity, Sophia opened a veritable Pandora's box of mystery and intrigue. The Unknown Soldier aired over Carlton Television in 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title may be Blonde Fist, but that doesn't mean that the leading characters have yellow hair growing from their knuckles. This British actioner deals with the specialized world of female boxers. People essential to the action bear such monikers as "Crazy Sue" (Susan Atkins) and "Big Alice" (Jane Poter). Veteran Hollywood leading lady Carrol Baker shows up as a don't-mess-with-me promoter. There are some attempts at social satire, contrasting the female pugilists with "proper" British ladies, but Blonde Fist is essentially an excuse to show scantily clad women duke it out and sweat a lot. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Re-titled for American release, Monkey Boy is actually an edited version of Lawrence Clark's British production Chimera, about a half-human, half-ape creature who plots a murderous plan of escape from the genetics lab that gave him life. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

The first directorial effort of British screenwriter Paul Greengrass, Resurrected is based on a true story that came to light during the Falklands War. David Thewlis plays an Army private who, after being listed as missing and presumed dead, wanders back into camp, a victim of amnesia. The army, embarrassed at the situation and not fully believing the boy's story, downplays Thewlis' return. His British home town had planned to give him a hero's welcome, but a newspaper story has intimated that the boy was a deserter. The general consensus is that it would have been better if Thewlis had really died, thus saving his neighbors from embarrassment. With no one, not even his parents, willing to believe the amnesia story, Thewlis is persona non grata, and to add to his troubles he is severely beaten by several of his former army buddies. An ironic coda caps this unpleasant glimpse at the darker side of human nature. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide